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The Riva, No. 1 (The Riva)

1879–80
Not on view
The artist etched the Riva degli Schiavone from his room in the Casa Jankowitz in Venice. Traditional visual hierarchy is overturned and the foreground filled with a triangular expanse of open plaza. Paving stones are suggested with a few etched lines and the edges enlivened with pedestrians, moored boats, and gondolas. An arched bridge leads across a canal toward a curved bank lined with buildings, concluding in the tiny exclamation point of the Campanile. Whistler arrived in Venice in September 1879, commissioned by the Fine Art Society to prepare twelve etchings in three months, but returned to London in November 1880 with many more plates. This print was published in Venice, a Series of Twelve Etchings (the "First Venice Set") in December.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Riva, No. 1 (The Riva)
  • Series/Portfolio: First Venice Set ("Venice: Twelve Etchings," 1880)
  • Artist: James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)
  • Date: 1879–80
  • Medium: Etching and drypoint, printed in black ink on medium weight ivory laid paper; fourth state of four (Glasgow)
  • Dimensions: Plate: 7 15/16 × 11 5/8 in. (20.1 × 29.6 cm)
    Sheet: 8 3/8 × 11 3/4 in. (21.2 × 29.9 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.3.93
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Nocturne (Nocturne: The Thames at Battersea), James McNeill Whistler American, Lithotint with scraping on a prepared half-tint ground, printed in soft gray-black ink on pale blue laid chine mounted on ivory wove plate paper; second state of two (Chicago)
Nocturne (Nocturne: The Thames at Battersea)
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Nocturne: Palaces, James McNeill Whistler American, Etching and drypoint; printed in dark brown ink on drum mounted medium weight ivory laid paper.
Nocturne: Palaces
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Easy Chair, Walnut, ash, American
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Nocturne, James McNeill Whistler American, Etching and drypoint, printed in black ink on heavy cream Japan paper; sixth state of nine (Glasgow)
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James McNeill Whistler
1879–80

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